The “U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson reaffirmed his commitment to reforming the Department’s manufactured housing program,” said the IMHA in a statement to the Daily Business News.

“Secretary Carson stated the importance of manufactured housing as a source for addressing the nation’s affordable housing crisis and that HUD’s approach to the regulation of manufactured housing should change,” the Indiana state association said.

“According to the economists, we are experiencing the biggest jump in housing prices in four years – prices are rising while the supply of housing is getting smaller. It’s basic supply and demand,” said Secretary Carson, M.D. “That’s why everyone in this audience and the manufactured housing industry is so important – and that’s why I am here today. You are a big part of the solution to providing unsubsidized, quality, affordable housing.”

The comments echoed what he said recently to a Senate oversight hearing in the video, posted below.

Secretary Carson said, “HUD is now positioned to usher in a new era of cooperation and coordination with your industry. Make no mistake, we understand how you are vital to our economy and to our agency’s goal of making safe, quality, desirable and affordable homes for millions of hard working Americans.”

Secretary Carson recognized the work the industry is doing to make homes more affordable, while creating good jobs.

Secretary Carson noted that the Trump Administration appreciates all the efforts underway in the industry, specifically citing the use of a number of American suppliers and products when constructing manufactured homes.

Unlike his predecessor, Secretary Julian Castro who appeared at an MHI event via video, Dr. Carson made a personal appearance at the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) annual meeting in Las Vegas. The Trump Administration has been widely seen as more business and regulatory friendly than prior ones. ## (News, analysis, and commentary.)

NOTICE: Exclusives from HUD, and Attendees about Secretary Carson’s comments at MHI will be part of an upcoming report. Sign up for our emailed news updates for that notice, and to stay up with all of the industry’s most popular, best and most independent fact-based converge.

The home, on a hillside location overlooking the city, consists of 36 prefabricated steel frame modules, which were assembled off-site while concurrently the foundation work being done on-site. This combination cut the total construction time to 12 weeks.

Another unique feature to the home is that it is partially buried in the ground, which allows it to take advantage of the earth’s naturally cool thermal mass, and thus helps insulate the home.

Deep patios also support control of the amount of direct sunlight hitting the interior.

The 18,000 square foot home includes four bedrooms and five bathrooms, a spa, pool, a series of partially covered and uncovered patios and courtyards.

Credit: Marmol Radzinder.

“12′ by 12′ modules was not only a cost effective solution for the construction but also providedMarmol Radzinderto play with indoor and outdoor spaces, consistently blending both throughout the house,” a statement from the company said.

A tiled deck that spans out onto a large central courtyard ensures natural light and ventilation to every room in the house, and louvered roofs that cover outdoor terraces also function as shading devices for the glass walls.

The living area combines a standard 12-foot module with another partial module making 15-foot tall ceilings that provide expansive views.

The Daily Business News has featured the work of Marmol Radzinder in the past, including their nod to lead the architecture design for eleven new manufactured homes that were showcased by the city of Santa Monica, California as examples of green technology applied to manufactured housing. That story is linked here. ##

The Manufactured Housing Institute’s (MHI) 2016 Congress and Expo held at Caesar’s Palace Conference Center in Las Vegas Nevada is now in the rear view mirror. For a pictorial ‘flash report’ of some of the people and sights, please click here. ##

For some who are tired of those big McMansions and equally oversized house payments, the Tiny House trend is finding appeal.

Changing economic conditions have produced a desire for more simplicity, frugal living, and smaller or even “tiny houses.” These may be as small as 120 square feet and be on a frame with wheels. Still others are fastened to the ground, but offer diminutive square footage. This has drawn positive publicity, good media and even a cable TV show.

So, what’s in this trend that could benefit the Manufactured Housing industry? Some feel that the Tiny House movement might offer some new opportunities for those involved in manufactured housing. Click here for a more in depth look at Tiny Houses. ##

The Renew Collection of Deltec Homes of Asheville, North Carolina offers homes with net-zero level of efficiency, reducing energy consumption by two-thirds compared to a traditional site-built home, according to sbcmag.info. Featuring double-stud walls, solar panels, triple-paned windows, exterior insulation and fresh air ventilation, their first net-zero home was delivered to Dr. Marie DeVerneil, an organic farmer, professor at the University of Maryland and mother of a LEED architect. “I teach a course in cultural sustainability [at UMBC] and am a member of the sustainability movement there,” she said. “I knew if I were to build a house, it would have to be as fossil fuel free as possible.”

Steve Linton, president of Deltec Homes, said, “The construction of the DeVerneil home has been very exciting for us.There are several years of research and planning behind the Renew Collection and to see it launch and gain popularity so quickly has been validating.” Linton said this is the future of homebuilding as more people become aware of the carbon footprint of traditional homes. Deltec has 20 homes from the Renew Collection scheduled to be delivered by mid-2015. As MHProNews reported Jan. 15, 2013, Greenfab displayed a net-zero home at the International Builders Show in Las Vegas Jan. 18-24, 2013. ##

The Washington Post famously hands out “Pinocchios” for false or misleading statements made by public officials they fact check, including notables such as U.S. President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other foreign or domestic public figures.

Since the MHIndustry’s George F. Allen boldly proclaims himself weekly to be a “reporter” and “communications resource,” let’s see in just one of the three parts (not counting his standard introduction, or “end notes”) in his recent post how many errors or contradictions this alleged “reporter” makes.

1) The first error/contradiction is found in the very first sentence in George F. Allen’s blog post (#290, section I); which is a typo of one of his own publication’s name.

2) When George Allen wrote;

“…NEVER EVER ENGAGE IN PUBLIC BACKSTABBING of MHBusiness associates online or anywhere else!”

…does Allen realize he violated that principle in that very paragraph, in his own blasting of the Manufactured Housing Institute’s (MHI’s) popular Congress and Expo? Is it ‘Do as I say, not as I do?’ for Allen in Indy? Does Allen hold himself and his friends to this standard, or not?

3) The early bird special for Congress and Expo runs through Friday, April 4, so Allen has 2 fact errors in his second bullet point, and once more violates his own stated principle of “…NEVER EVER ENGAGE IN PUBLIC BACKSTABBING of MHBusiness associates online or anywhere else!” As a side note, when has MHI ever attacked Allen’s so-called Roundtable or other “meetings” publicly?

4) Allen’s paragraph five states registrations for MHI’s Congress and Expo in 2014 “…are up 30 percent over last year!” An MHProNews source at MHI puts that at up 39% increase over last year, as of 3PM ET, 3/31/2014. Doesn’t that fact-error contradict his bullet point 3, which boldly claims his location has become “the hub…”“…of 1) research, 2) resources, 3) communication, 4) networking, 5) deal-making, 6) PM training & certification, and when need be, 7) national advocacy…” What Allen himself has said in a prior blog post, that he ‘agitates‘ against MHI seems accurate. If MHProNews grades errors and contradictions on the curve, that would be a sixth fact/contradiction error. But if you look at the fact that accurate research, business building resources, more (…and more accurate…) communications, some 5 times more networking at the Congress and Expo event alone, true testing and certification through MHEI’s ACM (Accredited Community Manager), those first 6 claims are all errors/contradicted, because he is clearly not “…the hub…” based solely on Allen’s own missive. As to Allen point 7), when has Allen last engaged in “national advocacy” on an issue with Congress, the CFPB, HUD or other Washington based regulatory agency? Should that self-proclaimed “reporter” get a total 6 or 13 fact errors/contradictions for that one section of his blog? Does the Scripture-quoting Allen recall Exodus 20:16?

With so many obvious errors in just section “I” of a single Allen post – a pattern of errors which allegedly occurs routinely with this self-described “reporter” and “community-investor” – is it any wonder that the New York Times has not called George Allen to have a reporter spend a week in his “land lease life style community?”

For those wishing to learn the facts about the MHI/NCC 2014 Congress & Expo to be held on April 29 – May 1, 2014 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas – or to save $200 on early bird special for the hottest ticket in the manufactured housing industry ‘business building, educational, networking and deal making’ with an estimated 1000 +/- attendees from companies of all sizes – please click here by Friday April 4 for the discounted rates.

MHI organizers say similar events in the home building or real estate industry often cost more, and tell us they have arranged for discounted room rates ‘while they last,’ but MHProNews – which will have a paying attendee of the event – encourages readers to check out the facts for yourself. ##

(Image credit of Caesar’s Palace main fountain at night in Las Vegas, NV: WikiCommons. Editor’s note: by way of disclosure, MHProNews’ parent company was hired by MHI to help promote this event, but we were not asked to comment or fact-check this George Allen article.)

The S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Indices show an average price growth year-over-year in August of 12.8 percent for the 10-and 20-city composites, according to HousingWire. On a monthly basis, the composites rose 1.3 percent in August, with Las Vegas hitting 2.9 percent, its highest rate since August 2004. Detroit and Los Angeles were close behind with two percent growth rates in August. With all 20 cities reporting positive year-over-year returns, 13 saw double-digit annual gains. David Blitzer of the S&P Dow Jones Indices says, “The monthly percentage changes for the 20-City composite show the peak rate of gain in home prices was last April. Since then home prices continued to rise, but at a slower pace each month. This month 16 cities reported smaller gains in August compared to July. Recent increases in mortgage rates and fewer mortgage applications are two factors in these shifts.” Analysts with Econoday say, “Home-price appreciation is a plus of course for homeowner wealth but higher prices are a big negative for home sales, a factor that is apparent in a run of home sales data including yesterday’s very weak pending home sales report.” As MHProNews reported Oct. 28, pending home sales dropped six percent in September.

Of the 30 largest metropolitan areas that the Zillow Real Estate Market report analyzes, 20 experienced annual home value increases of at least ten percent in August, the most significant of which were in California cities—Sacramento rose 34.1 percent—plus Las Vegas and Phoenix. Overall, 85 percent of the 382 markets analyzed by the report saw home prices increase 6.6 percent annually, the largest gain since July 2006 when values rose 7.6 percent. As Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow tells nationalmortgagenews, “Double-digit appreciation does help to lift homeowners out of negative equity, and to entice sellers into a low-inventory environment,” but this pace cannot be safely maintained. MHProNews has learned during the coming 12 months Zillow says home values will increase another 5.2 percent to $170,500.

While the S&P/Case-Shiller national home price index of the 20 largest markets remains 24.4 percent below the peak of June 2006, it rose 12.2 percent in May above May 2012, the largest year-over-year increase since March 2006. April 2013 rose 12.1 percent over April 2012. A year ago homes that had been on the market for many months, even years, began selling, with prices rising each month since June 2012, and each month saw a bigger increase than the previous month. The rise in mortgage rates has yet to stem the rise in prices, which have been fed by an accompanying drop in foreclosures. Some of the markets hardest hit by the housing bubble are the ones experiencing the largest current gains: Prices in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Atlanta are all up more than 20% from a year ago. Some fear the housing bubble may return, according to what CNNMoney tells MHProNews. But Joseph LaVorgna, chief US economist for Deutsche Bank, says, “Affordability remains near historic highs despite the recent rise in rates and home prices. And the increase in home prices should encourage banks to ease lending standards for mortgages, since the collateral for the underlying loan is appreciating in value.”

Asking prices for homes in June increased 10.7 percent year-over-year, according to Trulia. If distressed home sales are excluded, the increase was 11.4 percent year-over-year. Based in San Francisco, data from the guru of real estate says, “However, the rate of increase will eventually slow down as mortgage rates rise, inventory expands, and investor demands fall.” In addition, as MHProNews has learned from nationalmortgagenews, rents in June have risen 2.8 percent year-over-year, climbing the most in Houston, Miami, and Tampa-St. Petersburg. Rents fell in markets where prices have risen over 30 percent: Las Vegas, Oakland and Sacramento, Calif.